Court sets bail at $448,000 for Zelensky's ex-deputy chief of staff suspected of money laundering
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The High Anti-Corruption Court on Aug. 25 placed Iryna Mudra, a former deputy head of the President's Office, in custody for two months in a graft case and set bail at Hr 20 million ($448,000).
Mudra said she would "try to find" the money to pay the bail, including with the help of her "friends."
Prosecutors initially sought Mudra's detention and a bail of Hr 150 million ($3.4 million).
Mudra is the latest high-ranking official close to President Volodymyr Zelensky to face charges this year, as the major corruption scandal engulfing his administration continues to unfold, with new allegations and cases emerging.
The official has been charged by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) as part of a money laundering case, involving lawmaker and businessman Vadym Stolar and former lawmaker Maksym Mykytas.
The court ordered Mykytas's detention on Aug. 21, setting bail at Hr 30 million ($671,000).
The bureau said the suspects were accused of laundering Hr 150 million ($3.4 million) in bail money through the state-owned Sense Bank for a suspect in a separate corruption case.
Investigators allege that Mudra, who oversaw judicial affairs and reform at the President's Office, was expected to help raise the funds needed to post bail for former Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko.
According to search warrants, unidentified individuals from the President's Office also tasked Mudra with bringing Sense Bank under the President Office's control to prevent other government bodies from taking control of the state-owned bank.
Zelensky dismissed Mudra on Aug. 19 following the charges.
Separately, NABU released recordings on Aug. 20 implicating Mudra in an alleged criminal group that illegally seized real estate.
Mudra has denied any wrongdoing.
If bail is paid, the former officials will be obliged to wear an electronic bracelet, report a change of residence, not leave Kyiv without permission, not communicate with other suspects, and hand in his foreign passports.
Speaking about the recent corruption scandal, Zelensky said he had no further details and that the information already made public was sufficient to dismiss Mudra. He added that the anti-corruption agencies "had no questions" for him.
Under Ukrainian law, a sitting president is immune from prosecution.
